Deuteronomy 27:12

Summary

Deuteronomy 27:12 lists six tribes — Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin — who are designated to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people after Israel crosses the Jordan River. The verse structures a future ritual act tied temporally to the crossing of the Jordan.

Key words

• ya.'am.Du ("they will stand", H5975G) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural; expresses a future/ongoing action, "they will stand."
• va.Rekh ("bless", H1288) — piel infinitive; the piel stem intensifies the action, and the infinitive form with the prefixed preposition le ("to", H9005) creates a purpose clause: "in order to bless."
• har ("mountain of", H2022G) — construct form of "mountain," linking directly to Gerizim (H1630) as "the mountain of Gerizim."
• 'a.ve.re. ("have passed over", H5674A) — qal infinitive with the prefixed preposition be ("when", H9003) and the pronominal suffix khem ("your", H9046), forming a temporal clause: "when you (m. pl.) have passed over."
• 'Am ("people", H5971A) — definite noun (marked by ha, H9009) and marked as direct object by 'et (H0853), identifying the recipients of the blessing.

What the text says

The verse opens with the demonstrative 'E.leh ("these," H0428), which points forward to the list of tribal names given at the end of the verse — a structure where the subject is named only after the verb and purpose clause have been stated. The main verb ya.'am.Du ("they will stand," H5975G) is in the qal imperfect, indicating a future action performed by the group referenced by 'E.leh. This is followed by the infinitive construction le-va.Rekh ("to bless," H9005 + H1288), using the piel stem of barakh, which carries an intensive or emphatic sense of blessing, distinguishing it from a simple qal action.

The object of the blessing is 'et-ha-'Am ("the people," H0853 + H9009 + H5971A), marked explicitly with the direct object particle. The location is given through the construct phrase har Gerizim ("mountain of Gerizim," H2022G + H1630), where har in construct state directly binds to the place name. A temporal clause follows: be-'a.ve.re.khem 'et-ha-Yarden ("when you have passed over the Jordan," H9003 + H5674A + H9046 + H0853 + H9009 + H3383), using another infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix indicating the addressees. The sentence concludes with the six tribal names joined by the conjunction ve ("and," H9002), listed in sequence: Shim'on (H8095G), Levi (H3878), Yehudah (H3063G), Yissakhar (H3485G), Yosef (H3130G), and Vinyamin (H1144G).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va.Rekh ("to bless," H1288) with the infinitive εὐλογεῖν, matching the Hebrew's purpose construction, but omits an explicit rendering of be-'a.ve.re.khem ("when you have passed over," H9003+H5674A) as a separate temporal clause, instead using the participial phrase διαβάντες ("having crossed"), attached to the subject rather than framed as a distinct time clause introduced by "when." The Vulgate similarly uses "Jordane transmisso" (an ablative absolute, "the Jordan having been crossed") rather than a clause parallel to the Hebrew's prepositional construction. The Hebrew har Gerizim ("mountain of Gerizim," H2022G+H1630) appears in the LXX as "ὄρει Γαριζείν" and in the Vulgate as "montem Garizim," both preserving the place name with minor transliteration differences.